Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) is a medical technique which induces healing through application of a vacuum to a wound through a sealed dressing. With this, sealed wound dressings connect to a vacuum pump to control the application of sub atmospheric pressure. NPWT units may be used in medical centers (hospitals, doctor's offices, etc.), however, it is common for them to be used inside of homes. In general, healthcare professionals diagnose alerts produced by NPWT units over the phone when it is late. This technique is only somewhat effective, as communication errors often occur, thus producing additional problems and confusion. Because of this, inventors have developed NPWT units and other medical devices which alert healthcare professionals from remote locations, however, there such inventions lack the output of several important alerts necessary to keep everything running smoothly for extended periods of time.
It is therefore an objective of the present invention to introduce a remote notification system for a negative pressure wound therapy unit. The present invention utilizes an NPWT unit capable of sending wireless notifications to an online dashboard application which may be accessed in remote locations, via a wireless network. Alerts which appear on the NPWT unit will be relayed to an internal microcontroller and transmitted out to the corresponding dashboard application which may be accessed on a remote computing device, such as a laptop or smartphone. Upon logging into the dashboard application, users will be able to diagnose the alert and figure out the proper course of action. The dashboard application will give full remote access to the NPWT unit, allowing users to troubleshoot and track any potential problems which may occur from a far. Additionally, the system allows for better overall safety of patients and in total, bettering the overall continuum of care within the home health and long term care markets. While the preferred embodiment is intended to be used with a NPWT unit, it is an object of the present invention to provide a device that can be used in any medical device.